Regulation to scrap 25-micron plastic bags being finalized

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
final stages of approval.This is a very good achievement for the government, Department of Environment (DOE) chief Ali Salajeqeh, said on
Thursday, ISNA reported.According to studies, the higher the thickness of the plastic bag, the easier it is to handle waste and the more
recyclable it is.Following the Fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) took place online and in Nairobi from
resolutions
According to this, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and countries sought to develop a binding agreement and instrument
regarding the reduction of plastic pollution in all forms and all places (land and sea).Over the past year, with the cooperation of all
institutions, stakeholders, and the private sector, the initial draft of this regulation was worked on in the form of eight clauses in the
field of issues such as monitoring the production and consumption of plastic bags, reducing the production of plastic bags from the source
and the encouragement and punishment ways was compiled.In other words, there are taxes to prevent the use of plastic bags and incentives for
the production and use of plastic bags in this regulation.Currently, it is in the stage of interaction and reaching an understanding with
the Ministry of Industry.If this regulation is implemented, during a five-year process, factories and units producing plastic bags must
change their methods for the production of renewable plastic bags
Units that produce plastic bags with a thickness of more than 25 microns include duties and taxes, and bags with a thickness of below 25
microns are removed from the production process
In stores, there should be a place to encourage people to refuse to use plastic bags.Nature spends 500 to 900 years decomposing each plastic
bag
As a result, the person who uses plastic bags also has to pay this cost.Over 1 million tons of plastic bags produced annuallyIn Iran, over 1
million tons of plastic bags are produced annually, while its shelf life is less than 10 minutes, but they remain in nature for hundreds of
rest of the world and have many devastating effects
The world has certainly been affected, so the United Nations has designated July 11, 1974, as World Plastic Day, to be a flip for countries
to reduce the production and consumption of plastic bags.The average lifespan of each plastic bag is less than 10 minutes, while remains
between 100 and 500 years in nature, statistics show that 1 million plastic bags and 5 trillion disposable plastic bags are used in the
world every minute.According to research conducted in Iran, 3,000 tons per day and over one million tons of plastic bags are produced
annually, although these figures are approximate, it is very thought-provoking.Today, one of the most important environmental problems in
the country is the mismanagement of waste, which incurs a loss of 448 trillion rials (nearly $1.7 billion) annually.Annually, more than 61
million tons of various types of waste are produced in Iran, according to the DOE, an estimated 10 to 17 percent of the total produced waste
is recycled
While in developed countries this number reaches up to 70 percent.FB/MG